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TRADITION WINS OUT

Beyond Elite 8 goes 3-1 but Hawkeye holding on9 MILES FROM 5.1 EPICENTER, CA (smt)- For all the talk of the narrowing of the gap between the elite traditional teams and the mid-majors, it’ll be #7E-UConn (2 titles, 4 Final Fours since ’99), blue-blood #8MW-Kentucky (3 titles, 5 Final Fours since ’96), and #4E-Michigan St. (1 title, 6 Final Fours since ’99) going to the Elite 8 and not better seeded #3E-Iowa St, #4MW-Louisville (despite being defending champion), and #1E-Virginia.  Those traditional elite teams played clutch down the stretch while the three losers committed costly turnovers, took bad shots and missed key free throws.  UConn hit 11 of 12 free throws in the last 47 seconds, Kentucky hit 6 of 7 in the last 2:12, and Michigan St. hit 5 of 6 (before missing the last one intentionally) in the last 33 seconds to seal their wins.

In the first game of the day, #11MW-Tennessee had a chance to go up by 1 in erasing a 8-point deficit with 2 minutes left and 5-point deficit with 32 seconds left.  A controversial charge Continue reading »